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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 109 records · Page 6

Measuring Ada as a software development technology in the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL)

An experiment is in progress to measure the effectiveness of Ada in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center flight dynamics software development environment. The experiment features the parallel development of software in FORTRAN and Ada. The experiment organization, objectives, and status are discussed. Experiences with an Ada training program and data from the development of a 5700-line Ada training exercise are reported.

Agresti, W. W.↗

Development of N-version software samples for an experiment in software fault tolerance

The report documents the task planning and software development phases of an effort to obtain twenty versions of code independently designed and developed from a common specification. These versions were created for use in future experiments in software fault tolerance, in continuation of the experimental series underway at the Systems Validation Methods Branch (SVMB) at NASA Langley Research Center. The 20 versions were developed under controlled conditions at four U.S. universities, by 20 teams of two researchers each. The versions process raw data from a modified Redundant Strapped Down Inertial Measurement Unit (RSDIMU). The specifications, and over 200 questions submitted by the developers concerning the specifications, are included as appendices to this report. Design documents, and design and code walkthrough reports for each version, were also obtained in this task for use in future studies.

Lauterbach, L.↗

Advanced transport operating system software upgrade: Flight management/flight controls software description

The Flight Management/Flight Controls (FM/FC) software for the Norden 2 (PDP-11/70M) computer installed on the NASA 737 aircraft is described. The software computes the navigation position estimates, guidance commands, those commands to be issued to the control surfaces to direct the aircraft in flight based on the modes selected on the Advanced Guidance Control System (AGSC) mode panel, and the flight path selected via the Navigation Control/Display Unit (NCDU).

Clinedinst, Winston C.↗

Software For Simulation Of Development Of Software

SOFTREL is prototype software package simulating creation, detection, and repair of defects and faults during software-development project. Personnel, resources, errors, and other realistic factors represented in simulation. Available in executable form only for IBM PC. SOFTREL is copyrighted work with all copyright vested in NASA.

Tausworthe, Robert C.↗

Advanced program development management software system. Software description and user's manual

The objectives of this project were to apply emerging techniques and tools from the computer science discipline of paperless management to the activities of the Space Transportation and Exploration Office (PT01) in Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Program Development, thereby enhancing the productivity of the workforce, the quality of the data products, and the collection, dissemination, and storage of information. The approach used to accomplish the objectives emphasized the utilization of finished form (off-the-shelf) software products to the greatest extent possible without impacting the performance of the end product, to pursue developments when necessary in the rapid prototyping environment to provide a mechanism for frequent feedback from the users, and to provide a full range of user support functions during the development process to promote testing of the software.

Source record↗

National software exchange - An electronic marketplace for software

A potential application is outlined for high-speed and high-performance networks of the future. A discussion is presented of possible contents of the NSE (National Software Exchange) services to be offered by the NSE, mechanisms for controlling software quality, and types of collaboration that might involve the NSE. Services that must be provided by the NREN (National Research and Education Network) to provide adequate support for the NSE are identified.

Johnson, Marjory J.↗

COTS-based OO-component approach for software inter-operability and reuse (software systems engineering methodology)

The purpose of this research and study paper is to provide a summary description and results of rapid development accomplishments at NASA/JPL in the area of advanced distributed computing technology using a Commercial-Off--The-Shelf (COTS)-based object oriented component approach to open inter-operable software development and software reuse.

object-oriented components distributed computing a↗

A Decision Tool that Combines Discrete Event Software Process Models with System Dynamics Pieces for Software Development Cost Estimation and Analysis

The development process for a large software development project is very complex and dependent on many variables that are dynamic and interrelated. Factors such as size, productivity and defect injection rates will have substantial impact on the project in terms of cost and schedule. These factors can be affected by the intricacies of the process itself as well as human behavior because the process is very labor intensive. The complex nature of the development process can be investigated with software development process models that utilize discrete event simulation to analyze the effects of process changes. The organizational environment and its effects on the workforce can be analyzed with system dynamics that utilizes continuous simulation. Each has unique strengths and the benefits of both types can be exploited by combining a system dynamics model and a discrete event process model. This paper will demonstrate how the two types of models can be combined to investigate the impacts of human resource interactions on productivity and ultimately on cost and schedule.

Mizell, Carolyn Barrett↗

Software models: A Bayesian approach to parameter estimation in the Jelenski-Moranda software reliability model

Maximum likelihood estimation procedures for the Jelinski-Moranda software reliability model often give misleading answers. A reparameterization and a Bayesian analysis eliminate some of the problems incurred by MLE methods and often give better predictions on sets of real and simulated data. Practical difficulties in estimating the initial number of errors N and the failure rate of each error phi by the method of maximum likelihood are: N, the MLE of N, is occasionally infinite (i.e., the routines for calculating N and phi do not converge). It is shown that N is finite sub i only if the regression line of the interevent times t sub i vs. i has positive slope. A serious problem is that often N approximates n, the sample size, and sometimes N = n. Thus the MLE predicts that the program is perfect even when it is far from being so. Only when almost all failures have been removed can N and phi be trusted near the end of debugging.

Littlewood, B.↗

Empirical studies of design software: Implications for software engineering environments

The empirical studies team of MCC's Design Process Group conducted three studies in 1986-87 in order to gather data on professionals designing software systems in a range of situations. The first study (the Lift Experiment) used thinking aloud protocols in a controlled laboratory setting to study the cognitive processes of individual designers. The second study (the Object Server Project) involved the observation, videotaping, and data collection of a design team of a medium-sized development project over several months in order to study team dynamics. The third study (the Field Study) involved interviews with the personnel from 19 large development projects in the MCC shareholders in order to study how the process of design is affected by organizationl and project behavior. The focus of this report will be on key observations of design process (at several levels) and their implications for the design of environments.

Krasner, Herb↗

Software Reliability Issues Concerning Large and Safety Critical Software Systems

This research was undertaken to provide NASA with a survey of state-of-the-art techniques using in industrial and academia to provide safe, reliable, and maintainable software to drive large systems. Such systems must match the complexity and strict safety requirements of NASA's shuttle system. In particular, the Launch Processing System (LPS) is being considered for replacement. The LPS is responsible for monitoring and commanding the shuttle during test, repair, and launch phases. NASA built this system in the 1970's using mostly hardware techniques to provide for increased reliability, but it did so often using custom-built equipment, which has not been able to keep up with current technologies. This report surveys the major techniques used in industry and academia to ensure reliability in large and critical computer systems.

Kamel, Khaled↗

Using Commercial Off-the-Shelf Software Tools for Space Shuttle Scientific Software

In October 1993, the Astronaut Science Advisor (ASA) was on board the STS-58 flight of the space shuttle. ASA is an interactive system providing data acquisition and analysis, experiment step re-scheduling, and various other forms of reasoning. As fielded, the system runs on a single Macintosh PowerBook 170, which hosts the six ASA modules. There is one other piece of hardware, an external (GW Instruments, Sommerville, Massachusetts) analog-to-digital converter connected to the PowerBook's SCSI port. Three main software tools were used: LabVIEW, CLIPS, and HyperCard: First, a module written in LabVIEW (National Instruments, Austin, Texas) controls the A/D conversion and stores the resulting data in appropriate arrays. This module also analyzes the numerical data to produce a small set of characteristic numbers or symbols describing the results of an experiment trial. Second, a forward-chaining inference system written in CLIPS (NASA) uses the symbolic information provided by the first stage with a static rule base to infer decisions about the experiment. This expert system shell is used by the system for diagnosis. The third component of the system is the user interface, written in HyperCard (Claris Inc. and Apple Inc., both in Cupertino, California).

Groleau, Nicolas↗